Kh-35

Kh-35 (NATO reporting name: AS-20 'Kayak') 3M24 Uran (SS-N-25 'Switchblade') 3K60 Bal (SSC-6 'Sennight')
Kh-35E in MAKS-2009
Type	Air-to-surface Surface-to-surface missile Cruise missile Anti-ship missile
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	2003
Used by	Russian Navy Indian Navy Vietnam People's Navy
Production history
Designer	Zvezda
Designed	1983-2003
Manufacturer	Tactical Missiles Corporation
Unit cost	$500,000 (2010)[1]
Produced	1996 for export, 2003 for Russia
Variants	Neptune VCM-01
Specifications
Mass	520 kg (1,150 lb)[2] (air version) 610 kg (1,340 lb)[2] (surface & heli version)
Length	385 cm (152 in)[2] (air version) 440 cm (173 in)[2] (surface & heli version)
Diameter	42.0 cm (16.5 in)[2]
Warhead	HE fragmentation shaped charge
Warhead weight	145 kg (320 lb)[2]
Engine	R95TP-300 Turbojet[3] Kh-35 / Turbofan Kh-35U 360 kgf
Wingspan	133 cm (52.4 in)[2]
Propellant	kerosene
Operational range	130 km (70 nmi) 300 km (160 nmi) (upgrade version, 2015)[4]
Flight altitude	10-15 m en route and about 4 m at terminal area
Maximum speed	Mach 0.8–Mach 0.95 (609–723 mph; 980–1,164 km/h)
Guidance system	inertial guidance and ARGS-35E X-band terminal active radar homing[5]
Launch platform	Tupolev Tu-142, Su-24, MiG-29M/K, Sukhoi Su-35, Su-27SM, Su-30MKI//Su-30SM, Su-34, HAL Tejas, Ka-27, Ka-28,[2][6] Ka-52, Su-57,[citation needed] also ships and boats, coastal, LACM, TEL variants.

The Zvezda Kh-35 (Russian: Х-35 , AS-20 'Kayak') is a Soviet turbojet subsonic cruise^[7] anti-ship missile. The same missile can also be launched from helicopters, surface ships and coastal defence batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in which case it is known as Uran ('Uranus', SS-N-25 'Switchblade', GRAU 3M24) or Bal ('Ball', SSC-6 'Sennight', GRAU 3K60). It is designed to attack vessels up to 5,000 tonnes.^[2]

Development[]

Zvezda started work on the Kh-35 in 1983 by a decree of the USSR Council of Ministers and the USSR CPSU Central Committee to arm ships of medium tonnage.^{[citation needed]}

Design[]

The Kh-35 missile is a subsonic weapon featuring a normal aerodynamic configuration with cruciform wings and fins and a semisubmerged air duct intake. The propulsion unit is a turbofan engine. The missile is guided to its target at the final leg of the trajectory by commands fed from the active radar homing head and the radio altimeter.^[2]

Target designation data can be introduced into the missile from the launch aircraft or ship or external sources. Flight mission data is inserted into the missile control system after input of target coordinates. An inertial system controls the missile in flight, stabilizes it at an assigned altitude and brings it to a target location area. At a certain target range, the homing head is switched on to search for, lock on and track the target. The inertial control system then turns the missile toward the target and changes its flight altitude to an extremely low one. At this altitude, the missile continues the process of homing by the data fed from the homing head and the inertial control system until a hit is obtained.^{[citation needed]}

The Kh-35 can be employed in fair and adverse weather conditions at sea states up to 5–6, by day and night, under enemy fire and electronic countermeasures. Its aerodynamic configuration is optimized for high subsonic-speed sea-skimming flight to ensure stealthy characteristics of the missile. The missile has low signatures thanks to its small dimensions, sea-skimming capability and a special guidance algorithm ensuring highly secure operational modes of the active radar seeker.^{[citation needed]}

Its ARGS-35E active radar seeker operates in both single and multiple missile launch modes, acquiring and locking on targets at a maximum range of up to 20 km.^[8] A new radar seeker, Gran-KE has been developed by SPE Radar MMS^[9] and will be replacing the existing ARGS-35E X band seeker.^[10]

Operational history[]

The Kh-35 missile entered service in 2003. In July 2003, the system created by the "Tactical Missiles Corporation" passed the state tests and began to come into service of ships of the Russian Navy. Today it is generally accepted^{[by whom?]} that in the criterion of "cost-effectiveness", "Uran-E" is one of the best systems in the world.^[12] It has also been acquired by India.^[13] The Bal coastal missile system showed excellent results in state tests in the fall of 2004, and entered service in 2008.^[14] The tests of the upgraded Kh-35UE missile were completed as of June 2021.^[15]

A Bal system has four self-propelled launcher vehicles each carrying eight missiles for a total of 32 missiles in a salvo, plus reloads for another wave. The launchers can be up to 10 km from the coast and hit targets at ranges up to 120 km (75 mi; 65 nmi).^[16] Currently, the Bal system is equipped with an upgraded version of the Kh-35E increasing the range to 300 km (190 mi; 160 nmi).^[17][18] At IMDS 2019, a new version of the Russian Bal-E coastal defence system was presented for the first time. The four-tube Rubezh-ME, dedicated to the export market, is based on a Kamaz 63501 8x8 chassis which is more compact than the MZKT-7930 of the original Bal-E.^[19][20]

Variants[]

Bal - coastal mobile missile complex

• Kh-35 (3M-24) - Base naval version for Russia (2003).^[8]
• Kh-35E (3M-24E) - Export version of Kh-35 (1996).^{[citation needed]}
• Kh-35U - Base upgrade unified missile (can be used with any carrier), version for Russia in production (as of July 1, 2015).^[11][21] Capable of striking land targets.^{[citation needed]}
• Kh-35UE^[22] - Export version of Kh-35U, in production.^{[citation needed]}
• Kh-35V - Version for Russia, launched from a helicopter.^{[citation needed]}
• 3M-24EMV - Export version of Kh-35 missile-target without warhead for Vietnam.^{[citation needed]}
• Kh-35 Uran/Uran-E (SS-N-25 'Switchblade', 3M-24) - Shipborne equipment of the control system with a missile Kh-35/Kh-35E.^[23]
• Bal/Bal-E - Coastal (SSC-6 Sennight) missile complex with Kh-35/Kh-35E missiles (2008).^{[citation needed]}
• KN-09 Kumsong/GeumSeong-3 (Venus 3 금성3호 金星3号) - KN0v 0x 01, KN19 Reported North Korean copy of the Kh-35U. Kumsong-3 is a North Korean domestic variant/clone of Kh-35 likely based on Kh-35U due to range.^[24] Demonstrated range in 2017, June 8 test is 240 km.^[25]
• Kh-37 or Kh-39 - possible name for nuclear-tipped variant.^{[citation needed]}
• VCM-01 - Vietnamese derivative^[26]
• Neptune - Ukrainian derivative^{[citation needed]}

Operators[]

Map with Kh-35 operators in blue

Current operators[]

•  Algeria
•  Azerbaijan – Bal Coastal missile complex suspended^[27]
•  India
•  Iran
•  Myanmar
•  North Korea – Kh-35U derivative Kumsong/GeumSeong-3 (Venus 3) 금성3호 金星3号.^[28]
  • Mobile coastal defence (anti-ship) system KN-19 on a tracked chassis.
  • Believed to be also able launched with Ilyushin Il-28/H-5 due to missiles being stored at Uiju Airfield, home to these bombers.^[29]

•  Russia – 112 Kh-35 (3M-24) delivered in 2009–2010.^[30]
  • Bal coastal missile brigades deployed by the Russian Navy:
    • 11th Black Sea Fleet Brigade, Utash, Krasnodar
    • 46th Separate Division of the Caspian Flotilla, Dagestan (former)
    • 15th Black Sea Fleet Brigade, Sevastopol, Crimea
    • 72nd Pacific Fleet Regiment, Smolyaninovo, Primorsky Krai
    • At least one more complex was delivered to the Western Military District in mid-2016.^[31]
    • Two Bal missile systems delivered in 2017 and one more in November 2018 for the BSF.^[32][33][34] Three more systems in 2019 and 2020 for the PF, CFl and BF.^[35][36]
    • A deployment was moved^{[clarification needed]} to the Sredny Peninsula in 2019.^[37]
  • The Russian Air Force has acquired since 2014 an unknown number of Kh-35U missiles integrated with the Sukhoi Su-35S fighter aircraft and the Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers.^[38][39][40]
•  Venezuela – Bal Coastal missile complex being delivered.
•  Vietnam – 198 Kh-35E missiles delivered in 2001–2015. A local derivative designated as VCM-01 is being developed by Viettel.^[26]
•  Ukraine – Kh-35 derivative Neptune

See also[]

• AGM-158C LRASM
• C-802
• Exocet
• Harpoon
• Naval Strike Missile
• Otomat
• RBS-15
• Sea Eagle
• Type 80 Air-to-Ship Missile
• Type 88 Surface-to-Ship Missile
• Type 90 Ship-to-Ship Missile
• Type 93 Air-to-Ship Missile

References[]

External sources[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zvezda Kh-35.

• KH-35 at CSIS Missile Threat